When last we saw Samuel Deduno he was playing hero for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, beating the United States and then Puerto Rico to win the title.

He ended up not making the Twins out of spring training because of a groin injury suffered during the WBC, but Deduno is healthy now and after three starts at Triple-A the Twins are calling him up to become their fifth starter.

Deduno walked 10 batters in 16 innings at Triple-A, which is pretty standard for him and the biggest reason why there’s lots of skepticism about his being able to succeed in the majors long term. For now at least he’s getting the nod ahead of top prospect Kyle Gibson, but Deduno’s leash may not be particularly long.

Last season Deduno stepped into the Twins’ injury wrecked rotation and posted a respectable 4.44 ERA in 15 starts despite nearly as many walks (53) as strikeouts (57) in 79 innings.

I take it. I just would like to have at least one pitcher who can actually strike someone out. Not that I’m expecting great things, but this guy has some great “stuff”. He just needs to make sure it goes over the plate…

Love it. I know his walk numbers are terrible, but at the end of last season he was one of the few that at least didn’t give up too many runs and seemed to keep the Twins in games instead of falling behind by 5 or 6 runs after 2 innings. I hope he gets at least 4-5 starts to see what he can do. If it doesn’t work, send him back down.

I would think the Twins might like to delay Gibson a little bit to make keep his service time in check. Plus, I believe they are planning to restrict Gibson’s innings this year anyway.